Sighting device for guns or other pieces of ordnance.



PATENTED MAR. 24, 1903.

I. B. DE MBSQUITA. v SIGHTING DEVICE FOR'GUNS OR OTHER PIECES OF ORDNANGE.

APPLIGAI'ION FILED JAN. 2, 1900.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

No. 723,476. PATBNTED MAR. 24, 1903-.

l J. B. DB MESQUITA. SIGHTING DEVICE FOR GUNS OR OTHER P'IEGES 0P ORDNANGE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2| 1900.

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JAQUES BUENO DE MESQUITA, OF AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS.

SlGHTlNG DEVICE FOR GUNSOR OTHER PIECES OF ORDNANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 723,476, dated March 24, 1903. Application filed January 2, 1900. stain H0. 124. (No model.)

To all whom it may con-corn.-

Be it known that I, JAoUEs BUENO DE Mas- QUITA, major, a subject of the Queen of the Netherlands, residing at Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sighting Devices for Guns or other Pieces of Ordnance, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a'sighting device for regulating the elevation of guns; and it is represented in the accompanying drawings, illustrative of an embodiment of said invention.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side View of the instrument, and Fig. 2 a section thereof.

This sighting device permits of giving to the gun not only the right elevation, but to displace it also laterally in thousandth parts of the radius, and it also provides means for taking into account the wear of the parts resulting from the'shock incident upon firing a shot, and it is so arranged and constructed that both these inaccuracies, which heretofore could not be avoided, as well as the elevation of the ground, are considered when aiming the gun. I may also mention as an important feature of my invention that the telescope itself is not directly engaging with the means for adjusting the inclination thereof, as has been the case in the telescopes used before my invention for a similar purpose as far as I am aware.

My invention consists in supporting the telescope on journals parallel with the bore of the gun in a suitable frame, in which it may be securely held against displacement and which by suitable means is pivoted in a horizontal frame, which carries means for adjusting the inclination of said frame and of the telescope-frame pivoted therein and indicators and scales for eliminating the inaccuracies due to the elevation of the ground and to the wear of the operating parts of thegun.

The device comprises a base 1, firmly connected with the gun and supporting the sighting device proper, which is essentially composed of an underframe b, in which the telescope-stand a is secured. The supportingframe I) is adj ustably supported in the baseframe 1 by studs 2, fastened to one side of the frame I) and resting loosely in the V-shaped recesses 3 of the frame 1, while its opposite side has a projecting part, through which a screw4 is passed,the bottom end of which rests on the frame 1. By rotating the screw 4 the frame Z), with the sighting device supported thereby, can be swung on its pivots 2 and may be adjusted in a perfectly horizontal plane by means of a spirit or water level 8, constructed in the usual manner, thus obviating inaccuracy in aiming which would result from the trunnion-axis ot' the supporting-frame not being perfectly horizontal. On the nnder'frame b there is rotatably supported by horizontal pivots 6 in bearings 6 and at right angle to the pivots 2 a crosspiece 6. This part 6 is provided with a suitable socket, in which the vertical cylindrical part a is rotatably journaled, on which the stand of the telescopeis fastened, and the lower comically-shaped part of which forms a pivot 7, which projects through an opening in the cross-piece 6. The latter is provided with a worm 14, horizontally arranged and actuated by the milled screw-head 15 and engaging with the worm-wheel 13 above the pivot 7 of the part a. On the periphery of the cylindrical part cl there is also a horizontal scale 12, from which the angle of dispart may be read. Furthermore, the crosspiece 6 carries a toothed segment 19, mounted in a vertical plane on the shaft 6 of the crosspiece and meshing with the endless screw 20, horizontally arranged in the underframe b and operated by the milled-head screw 24:- At one end of the cross-piece 6 a spirit-level 9 is located, by means of which the cross-piece 6, which is journaled in the u-nderframe b, may be adjusted in perfectly horizontal position with the telescope-stand carried thereby. On

the shaft 6 of the cross-piece 6 I also provide a pointer 23, which is adjustably secured on said shaft and which may be rotated by hand or by suitable screws in engagement therewith, such screws serving also to fix and set the pointer in any desired relative position. The pointer 23 plays on a scale or graduated segment 18, fast on the underframe b. By rotating the worm 20 a rotation will be given to the cross-piece 6, the value of this rotation being indicated on the fixed scale 18.

On the cylindrical part a of the sighting device is supported the telescope-stand 25, in which a terrestrial telescope 5, provided with the usual cross-hair at 10, is pivoted on horizontal trunnions 11 on the lens end of the telescope and in the said stand 25. A nut 27, mounted on a screw 26, fixed to the ocular end of the telescope, serves to lock the latter in position after adjustment. The horizontal scale 12 is divided into sixty-three equal parts, and each of these parts is equal to one onehundred-thousandth of the radius. At each revolution of the endless screw 1% the sighting device is turned through an angle corresponding to a part of the horizontal scale. The endless screw 14: carries a drum 1.6. The circumterence of the latter is divided into one hundred equal parts, so that the rotation of each part corresponds to a displacement equal to one ten-millionth of the radius. The drum 1b is freely rotatable on the screw-shaft and can be locked to the same by means of a set-screw 17. A similar rotatable drum 21 is mounted on the screw-shaft of the screw-head 24 and can be locked to the same by the setscrew The drutn 21 is also provided with a circular centigrade-scale and serves to determine the inclination of the gun. On the vertical segment 18 are read the units and on the drum 21 the hundredths of the angle of inclination. 'lhe loose graduated drums 16 and 21, respectively, serve for eliminating the deviation from the normal which is due to the wear of the parts and of the inaccuracies in the bore of the gun, which result from the frequent firing of the piece of ordnance and the consequent jar and friction of its parts and which are otherwise unavoidable. The value of these deviations or dispart from the normal is determined from time to time by experiments and expressed in fractions of an are, which are read 01f on the drums 16 and 21, respectively.

In order to adjust the sighting device, the drums are locked to their respective screws and are first set to zero after the device has been properly leveled. The drums are then rotated for the value of the angle of dispart by operating their respective milled-head screws. The set-screws of the drums are then loosened and the latter turned back to zero and again locked in position. In asimilar manner theinfluence of the ground angle on the deviation which is due to unevenness of the ground and the auxiliary sighting angle in indirect pointing are eliminated by operating the pointer 23. The pointer 23 is originally set to zero on the vertical scale. The angle of dispart due to wear is then adjusted as described, which of course will also cause a slight deviation of the pointer 23, mounted on the shaft 6 of the cross-piece 6. Then the ground angle is laid off, and in the case of indirect pointing the auxiliary sighting is effected, and after this is done the pointer 23 is moved back to zero, and the device is now ready to he used for firing the piece of ordnance. I may of course also reverse the order of operations.

The base 1, on which the sighting device is mounted, is so constructed as to fit the piece of ordnance to which the sight is to be applied.

The manner of applying the apparatus is of course varied according to whether the pointing is to be direct or indirect and the target on a level with the gun or not.

For indirect pointing, after, by means of a transporter, the arlgle has been measured which is formed by the shot-plane of the piece of ordnance and the auxiliary leveling-plane and after this angle has been determined for each single piece of ordnance, one proceeds in the following manner: First, after the angle of dispart has been adjusted for, lateral displacement is regulated by rotating the drum 16 on the divided horizontal scale 12; second, the ground angle and its consequent elevation are adjusted for by setting the pointer- 23, as above described, and then the elevation for range is adjusted on the vertical are 18 by operating the screw-head 24; third, the telescope-stand is then placed upon the underframe 1, and the telescope is pointed on the auxiliary aiming-point, while it must be observed that the two water-levels indicate the horizontal. This is attained by adjusting the regulating-screw of the gun itself and by turning at the same time the screw 4 of the underframe b of the telescope-stand and by raising and lowering the optic-axis of the telescope until the latter is directed on the auxiliary leveling-point.

After the first shot it is only necessary to point the gun again to the auxiliary levelingpoint, whereupon the upper water-level is automatically balanced.

Second. The direct pointing is effected in the following manner: Before the telescopestand is mounted on the base 1 the optic-axis of the telescope is adjusted by hand by first loosening the nut 27 and turning the telescope in its pivot 11 and then securing it in position by tightening the nut 27 again on the screw 26, which is attached to the telescope and displaceable in the slot 28, so that at the subsequent mounting of the telescope upon the base 1 the optic-axis is parallel to the bore of the gun. The lateral displacement is then regulated by turning the drum 16, corresponding to the horizontal scale 12. Third. The elevation is to be adjusted on the vertical segtnent 18 and on the drum 21, corresponding thereto. Fourth. Then the device, with the supports, is mounted upon the base 1, and the telescope is directed on the aiming-point, while the lower water-level is balanced. If the aim is hidden, an auxiliary leveling-point is used, as stated above.

The adjustment for an auxiliary aim may be readily effected by vertical adjustment of the telescope itself and by turning the telescope, with its support 25, on the vertical pivot 7. As this results in a displacement of the horizontal scale 12 with relation to the usual fixed marking-point and of the drum 16 also, the latter should be loosened and be set back to be taken into consideration in the direct pointing.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. In a sighting device for regulating the elevation of guns, the combination with a stand adj ustably supported on journals parallel withlthe bore of the gun, of a frame supported in said stand and rotatable about a horizontal axis and a telescope-frame supporting the telescope and rotatable about a Vertical pivot, fitted into the frame supported in the said stand and means for adjusting the relative position of 'said frames.

2. In a sighting device substantially as described, the combination with a telescopeframe of a vertical pivot attached to said frame, a horizontal frame surrounding said pivot, the pivot being rotatable within the said frame, operating means in the said frame to effect the rotation of the pivot of the telescope-frame, a supporting-frame for the horizontal frame and means in connection with the supporting-frame to effect the rotation of the said horizontal frame around a horizontal axis and means to level the supportingframe, substantially as described.

8. In combination with a sighting device for adjusting the elevation of guns, a rotatable telescope frame, a verticallyrotatable frame operatively connected with the telescope-frame, an adjustable pointer on the vertically-movable frame, and a supporting, frame having a scale corresponding to the adjustable pointer, substantially as described.

4. In a sighting device for adjusting the elevation of guns the combination of a horizontal frame, a vertical frame fitted into said horizontal frame a base-frame in which said horizontal frame is rotatably journaled, toothed racks on said vertical and horizontal frame in engagement with adjusting-screws in the base-frame andin the horizontal frame; micrometer-collars loosely surrounding the heads of said adjusting-screws and tightening-screws through said micrometer-collars for securing them to the adjusting-screws, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAQUES BUENO DE MESQUI'IA.

Vfitnesses:

A. A. PREDIUS, HYLTER HART. 

